Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the field of watering devices for watering trees, shrubs, plants and other vegetation.
Description of Related Art
Open hose, soaker hoses, drip-irrigation rings and bags, hose fed-root feeders and self-contained root feeders are commonly used to water trees, both from ground level and by injecting water past the surface directly to the roots. A user must move open hose and hose fed-root feeders manually multiple times during a treatment to water completely around the circumference of a tree or shrub. These known methods currently used in the art do not provide any way to determine how much water is being or has been applied to the area surrounding the tree.
Soaker hoses are time-consuming to set up and it is not possible to measure how much water is being applied. Self-contained root feeders, drip-irrigation rings and bags are semi-permanent and have a self-contained water supply. In addition, these devices are visually unattractive and time consuming to set up. It is understandable that these methods are inadequate at times due to excessive set up time, lack of flexibility and the inability to determine how much water is being applied. Moreover, these methods may be unattractive and are not desirable in residential or commercial settings when a tree or shrub may need treatment over an extended time period.
Other commercial tree watering devices are known and each of these devices has its own substantial deficiencies. The Soaker Hose Tree Ring manufactured by Osmile® that applies water to the ground surface is merely a loop of a known soaker hose. The Soaker Hose Tree Ring uses a connection manifold that is cumbersome to set up and does not provide any way to monitor or measure the amount of water applied. The self-contained root feeder-watering system, Tree I.V., provided by SayeGrow® is bulky, difficult to set up and is visually unattractive. The self-contained root feeder-watering system is essentially a bucket with a spike in the ground that gradually feeds the soil by gravity and/or capillary action. Each tree is required to have a bucket next to it during treatment which is unsightly, particularly for extended treatments. Further, since each bucket uses only one spike, a user may be required to move the system around the tree for various treatments to ensure uniform watering around the circumference of the tree. Similarly, the garden hose fed tree root spike watering system manufactured by Ross® may only be placed in one location at a time and, therefore, must be moved multiple times around the circumference of the tree to effectuate a watering or nutrient treatment around the entire circumference of a tree or shrub.
In addition, the use of watering devices for trees, shrubs, plants, other vegetation and grass are often critical to their survival especially when freshly planted. Watering devices that are time consuming, unattractive and difficult to monitor water usage deter the user from implementing a watering device and/or from using the device properly.
A watering device that overcomes the numerous problems associated with prior art is sought by homeowners, nurseries, landscapers, gardeners and many others. This application outlines a device which provides a solution to these identified shortcomings in existing tree watering systems.